The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Lauryn & Michael Answer Your Questions: Relationship Dilemmas, Hustle vs Balance, & Advice To Our Younger Selves

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

#831: Join Lauryn & Michael Bosstick, hosts of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Show, as they dive into your hottest hotline questions. From the early hustle days to unfiltered relationship advice, they’re sharing the raw, real truths behind building success & navigating love. In this episode, Lauryn & Michael open up about the power of persistence, the importance of patience, what work-life balance really looks like, & the sacrifices that come with chasing big dreams.    Tune in & get ready for the unfiltered, no-BS truth – and if you’ve got a burning question, leave a comment below or leave us a voicemail at [phone] for a chance to be featured on the show!   To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential   Head to the HIM & HER Show ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of Michael and Lauryn’s favorite products mentioned on their latest episodes.   This episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential   Refresh your routine. Shop The Skinny Confidential Anniversary Sale at shopskinnyconfidential.com from April 22nd - April 25th for 30% off SITEWIDE!   This episode is sponsored by Addyi    Learn more at Addyi.com.   This episode is sponsored by The RealReal   Get $25 off your first purchase when you go to TheRealReal.com/skinny.   This episode is sponsored by Simply Pop   Go to cokeurl.com/simplyPOP to find out where you can try Simply Pop!   This episode is sponsored by Momentous   Head to livemomentous.com and use code SKINNY for 35% off your first subscription.   This episode is sponsored by Taylor Farms   Grab a Taylor Farms chopped salad kit. And get your salad together!   This episode is sponsored by iRestore   Unlock your best skin with iRestore laser and unlock HUGE savings on the iRestore Illumina Face Mask with code SKINNY at irestore.com/SKINNY.   Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. An unfiltered Q&A. Your burning questions are going to be answered. We did a hotline where you guys called in and did like a voicemail of your questions. And the fun thing about this is Michael and I are going to be surprised by the questions. So you're going to get real honest, raw, candid answers. Well, it's also kind of vintage because this is for listeners that are new to the show and have not been here since the very beginning. This is how we started the show.

We used to take two to four questions every week from the audience, old school. They would write into the blog or they would write into social, and then we would answer the questions. My sister Jordan helped us with the show in the very early days in our kitchen living room and we would answer questions from the audience in the early days. It was called the Ask Him and Her Show. And then we moved away from that and we got into guest conversations and different kinds of solos.

So we're excited to do this because it's like back to the roots where we get surprised by questions from the audience, the people that have supported us for so long, and hopefully we can answer them. We have not. Emily and Carson, who are in the room with us, have got the questions and they've got the voicemails. So, Lauren and I have no idea what they are. Hopefully we can answer them. Hopefully it's- And Carson is our producer in Austin. Taylor's our producer in Los Angeles. God forbid we forget to mention Taylor.

And Emily is sort of like our right hand woman when it comes to podcasting. She helps us streamline everything and schedule and briefs and research. And so it's really fun to have her in the room with us. And if you wanna call our hotline, it's 512-537-7194. We gotta update the voicemail on the hotline.

It's been like five years, but anyways, Carson, what do we got? All right. Here's the first one. Hi there. This is Namita, Namita Moore. I wanted to ask a question. Oh, actually, first of all, my social is Namita, N-A-M-I-T-A-M-O-O-R-E.

That's it. And my question is, I am starting a podcast and I would like your biggest advice for starting a podcast and really how to tune into yourself, stay organized, stay on top of your research. I guess like what is your weekly cadence for everything? And basically being on top of all of your stuff while you started podcasts is a lot of work, I understand. But how do you guys do it? How did you guys start it when you first started the Skinny Confidential? But that's it. Really appreciate your questions, your comments, and your answers. I love your podcast. I listen to it every week and I'm a huge fan.

Thanks. Bye. Thank you, Namita. And thank you for listening to the show and for calling in. Lauren, you want to go first? You want me to go? Is that how you're going to sit? I don't know.

I'm sorry. You know, you need to get comfortable. It's making me uncomfortable. I'm comfortable. And the reason I'm sitting in this seat this time is because last time you couldn't look at me, you're so concerned about your angle that, you know, I just lean back like this, is this look okay. How to, how to start a podcast.

Personally, if I were starting a podcast today right now, I would be like, what is my unique point of view? How am I bringing something fresh, unexpected, disruptive to this industry? And I would start with that. And that sometimes takes a like a second to wrap your head around, right? It's not something you just know right away. I would think about it for like a week or two. You don't want to go over a week or two because then you're getting into inaction. So I would think about what your unique point of view is. I would write that down and under that, I would think of it like a book. So I would do like essentially 12 episodes or with a book you would do 12 chapters. And I would have each episode have like 20 bullets under it of what you're gonna talk about.

So you're almost like you're creating like a little book with your podcast. I also don't think that every single podcast and show needs to have guests. Some shows, it doesn't need guests. It just depends on like what you're going to talk about. I don't think you need to have 12 great guests for your first 12 episodes. I think you can just throw yourself out there, throw things to a wall and see what sticks. And then the other thing I would say is it is important to invest

in nice equipment. You don't want bad sound. There's nothing worse. And I was just listening to this huge podcast the other day. And all of a sudden, her sound was bad. And I found out it was because she was sick and she was at home. And it made a really big difference to the point where I turned off the podcast. So I think getting your sound dialed out is important. It's not crazy. Like it's not a crazy amount of money. You can actually go on the skinny confidential blog and search podcast, how to start a podcast and our equipment that we started with shows up so you can shop it seamlessly there.

Those are like my pillars if I were to start, but I'll let the, the media mogul over there respond. Yeah. Let's hear what you say. Listen, the first thing I would say is when Lauren and I started, and I say this a lot, especially coming from the, yeah, I would've been a mogul. Yeah. Let's hear what you say. Listen, the first thing I would say is when Lauren and I started, and I say this a lot, especially coming from the perspective of, I guess, quote unquote, the media mogul. Sitting in the seat as a CEO of Dear Media, when I talk to aspiring new podcasters, even

if they have huge brands on other platforms, the first thing I say is that it's gotten to be much more competitive than when Lauren and I started. When Lauren and I started, we used to have to create videos to show people where to find the podcast app. And we weren't the first people to do podcasts by any means, but it was still early enough when you could stand out. Our focus at the time was kind of all over the place. We talked about a lot of different subjects in a 2025 podcast landscape. I hate when people say things are oversaturated. They're not, but you can't do the same formula that everyone else has done over and over and expect success, namely being because they've already found success in that format themselves.

So to Lauren's point, you have to come in with a unique perspective. I think it's very important to pick who you're speaking to and who you're trying to serve. Lauren and I will say you have to put the audience first and give the audience a reason to come back so that they're getting value for the time they're spending consuming your content. I also think that you have to buckle in and get ready to be very consistent for at least a year. A lot of times on the dear media side, when we see new shows start that end up either quitting or not lasting, they give themselves a short period of time and then it doesn't

work out or they don't monetize as quickly as they'd like and they end up quitting. And it's typically the shows that stay past a year and put in the work for long periods of time to start to see that exponential growth. But again, I think it's very important that you have a unique perspective. And even if the show is just based around you and your personality, you have to really hone in on that. I would pay as little attention as possible to what other people in the medium are doing personally, even though I run a company like Dear Media.

I spend almost no time these days looking at what anyone else is really doing. I think it's distracting and it gets you out of your own voice and your own authentic authentic perspective. And so again, like pick an audience that you're trying to serve, even like get down to the nitty gritty of like, you know, what that individual is looking for, figure out how you can get them to come back week after week by providing them value, do it in an authentic way. I think now the shows need to be not only audio, but audio video. So investing in equipment is important. And when I say investing in equipment, it doesn't have to be a full studio like this. You can get a simple zoom recorder and

a good mic and maybe a decent camera and start recording. There's so many free platforms right now. You can get on Libsyn and either Art 19, Megaphone, whatever it may be. It's all cost effective to stand these things up, create a YouTube channel, some social channels. But for me, it's consistency, a unique point of view. I wouldn't get too scripted.

I would have conversations, but I would make sure that you're bringing some kind of value and perspective that only you can bring and that it's serving the audience more than it's serving yourself. And then go from there. Jay-Z said the genius thing we did was we never gave up. That's true. I might give up, but I'm going to give myself like one more year. We'll see.

No, that's what the trick is. 10 years. You got to not give up. Like you have. No, that's what the trick is. You got to not give up. You have to keep putting in the reps and the work. It's like lifting weights. I'm going to give up if you don't look at me during this interview. I'm looking at you.

I can see you loud and clear. Yeah. I mean, listen, like I think anybody that wants to build any kind of business and anybody that's looking to get into the world of creating content. If you think you're going to do it in a year and have tremendous success, you're likely not. And even if you do, the question is then can you keep that success and keep that momentum? So it's all about the slow, consistent, exponential build. Lauren and I have been doing this show for close to 10 years. She's been creating content online

for close to two decades. It takes time. We feel like we're still just getting started. So yeah, of course that's a given like you have to be patient and consistent. Next question, Carson. This one, I wish you would have elaborated a little bit more, but you guys will get the idea. Hi, Lauren and Michael. I have a topic that I would love to go over

with you guys regarding being cut off due to political reasons. I think you'll really like that one. I have more, lots of information to give you guys. My social handle on Instagram-E-X-O. Yeah, I think you guys will really like this one. So I would love to be featured. Thanks. Cut off from your family, cut off from your job. What are we talking about here?

I'm pretty sure she means like cut off from her family. At least that's what I'm like taking away from it. Ah. Well, I'll probably give two perspectives. I think one, if you're an adult male or female over the age of 18, and you are disrupted by your family cutting you off financially, there's probably some soul searching to do to figure out how to become self-sufficient and not be remorse.

I think it sounds like not cut off financially. I think it's just like cut off energetically. That's what I thought too. Yeah. What if it's like cut off from a job? Okay, well, we're gonna need some more details on this, but listen, I think that, you know, there's a fine line between speaking your truth

and standing in conviction and then trolling people over and over. I think Lauren and I are no strangers to speaking our truth and doing what we think is right. But, you know, you're not gonna win everybody all the time with those kind of perspectives. And we have come to the place in our lives where it is more miserable, I think, for both of us

to not be able to speak our truths than it is to kind of try to placate and to cater to everyone all the time. It's a minefield, especially if you're creating content on the internet or sharing an opinion. It's impossible to please everyone. You have to be comfortable knowing you're not cater to everyone all the time. It's a minefield, especially if you're creating content on the internet or sharing an opinion. It's impossible to please everyone. You have to be comfortable knowing you're not gonna please everybody all the time.

We've said this a million times. I don't know if this goes down the line or the direction for what she's looking for, but my perspective is I would rather speak my truth and be myself and stand in those convictions without worry about people cutting me off as opposed to trying to placate and please everybody. I am someone that definitely wants to speak my truth

and be myself. I'm always going to be myself. But at the same time, I think there's a finesse in reading the room. Meaning, like, if I'm at Thanksgiving dinner, I'm not going to bring up certain topics because I know it's like hot button issues, certain topics, not even politics really. Maybe there's something with health or wellness that's like really crazy that I've found out.

In fact, we had a guest on that was really polarizing and he said some things that I agreed with. And there was something in particular that he said that I wanted to like, go tell friends and family. And I realized as I was telling certain friends and family this one topic, that some of them weren't taking it well. And so I was like, okay, I just need to like adjust my approach, or maybe not say anything at all. I think everyone is smart enough to know when they're putting their toe over the line. And for me, what I try to do is like be myself,

but not in a way that's like shoved in people's face and, and, and try to employ some finesse and reading where I am, like read where you are. If you're at church and you're at a church luncheon, maybe it's not the best time to bring up politics. As far as if someone's cutting you off and you really didn't do much, I mean, that's their prerogative. If they want to cut you off, then let them cut you off. I feel like everything's happening for you. And if they're cutting you off, maybe you just need to take a beat and take some space to begin with. Yeah. It's hard to answer like a vague question without specific details, but I think both of our perspective is like one, you got to be yourself. Two, you got to make sure you have the right people and friends around you. Three,

be self-aware and don't be screaming things aggressively about politics in the wrong settings. And I think four is, you know, you have to know your audience. Like, Lauren and I, if we go to a pleasant dinner with someone and we're just out socially, I don't know if it's the time to- I'm not going to bring up stem cells in your dick. Like I'm not going to be like, you know, I think you just got to read the room. We try to live by example and talk about certain things, but we're also not the type to start pushing things down people's throats if they're not open to it. Yes, I agree.

I also do want to say, I personally like being at dinner tables or having conversations with people where not, like we don't have to agree. And that doesn't mean I have to cut you off. And that doesn't mean you have to cut me off energetically and a friendship. If someone's going to cut me off because we don't agree, like maybe that's not the right relationship. We're all about skincare, self-care and mindset shifts. But what about our libido?

Yep, we're going there. Because here's the deal. Millions of women struggle with low sex drive. And if you've been struggling to get in the mood, you are not alone. But guess what, ladies? There's an option for you. It's a little pink pill called Adi,

the first and only FDA-approved pill to treat frustrating low libido in certain premenopausal women. Adi is clinically proven to increase sexual desire, decrease stress from low libido, and help you actually enjoy sex more often. ADDI is clinically proven to increase sexual desire, decrease stress from low libido, and help you actually enjoy sex more often. So if you're ready to prioritize

this part of your health this year and reconnect with your desire, talk to your doctor or head to addi.com. That's A-D-D-Y-I.com because you deserve to take back your sex drive. Addie, or flabanserin, is for premenopausal women with acquired generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder, HSDD,

who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past, who have had low sexual desire no matter the type of sexual activity, the situation, or the sexual partner. This low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem, problems in the relationship or medicine or other drug use.

Addie is not for use in children, men, or to enhance sexual performance. Your risk of severe low blood pressure and fainting is increased if you drink 1-2 standard alcoholic drinks close in time to your addie dose. Wait at least 2 hours after drinking before taking addie at bedtime. This risk increases if you take certain prescriptions, OTC or herbal medications, or have liver problems, and can happen when you take addie without alcohol or other medicines. Do not take if you are allergic to any of addie's ingredients.

Allergic reaction may include hives, itching, or trouble breathing. Sometimes serious sleepiness can occur. Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, tiredness, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and dry mouth. See full PI and medication guide, including boxed warning, at addie.com slash PI.

Addie. That's A-D-D-Y-I.com. I have an intimate relationship with the RealReal because not only do I buy pieces on the RealReal, I also sell on the RealReal and I've had such a good experience with them over the years. I have found the best clothes and bags, wallets on the RealReal. What I like about them is it's like attainable luxury that upgrades your personal style. So sometimes it's like 90% off retail. There is this Hermes vest that I found on there

that was so affordable. Everything that they sell is authenticated in person so you know that you're getting real items. And then what I do is I also use it as a place to sell my clothes that are gently used. And the whole process just makes it really, really easy. What's cool about them is that they found new homes for over 37 million authenticated luxury items. So they know firsthand the impact of resale and what it has on the planet, which is

awesome. I like to use them specifically if I need a dress for a wedding or maybe something for vacation or maybe I want like a pop of color. I love going on this site just to shop around Peru's. It's a good one. If you have not checked it out, you have to go look up all the brands they have. It will literally blow your mind. They have like Gucci, Fendi, Prada, like I said, Hermes. The RealReal is the world's largest and most trusted resource for authenticated luxury resale. With thousands of new arrivals daily, no one does resale like the RealReal. And now you get $25 off with your first purchase when you go to therealreal.com slash skinny.

That's therealreal.com slash skinny to get your $25 off. Start shopping now at therealreal.com slash skinny to get your $25 off. Start shopping now at the realreal.com slash skinny. Simply you have seen Simply everywhere. I am a big fan and they have launched a new prebiotic soda Simply Pop. It's like a juicy soda. There's five flavors. They have pineapple mango, lime, strawberry, citrus punch, and fruit punch. Personally, I am a big fan of the lime. That's my favorite. I'm a real citrus girl, and what I like about this is it's made with real fruit juice. Simply Pop supports gut with six grams of prebiotic fiber. There's also no added sugar.

It's sweetened with monk fruit extract and it even has zinc and vitamin C in it. They really thought of everything. I'm really into the six grams of prebiotic fiber. This is known to support gut health and the added vitamin C and zinc for me is amazing because it supports your immune function. But mostly what I like about this is I like sparkling everything and this specifically has no added sugar. You have to try the lime, but don't sleep on the pineapple mango.

Those two flavors, you cannot go wrong. Go to cokeurl.com slash simply pop to find where you can try Simply Pop. Find Simply Pop in any of its five juicy flavors by visiting them online at cokeurl.com slash Simply Pop. That's cokeurl.com slash Simply Pop. Next question. Okay, my name is Kiki.

I don't wanna give away my social handle because so many friends and people watch your show so they would obviously know it's me calling in. But yeah, so I've dated this NFL player for two years. We also went to high school together. We have so much history, but, um, we lived together and all that stuff. I gave up so much to go live in Seattle with him. And during his trade, we broke up. He got transferred to the Carolina Panthers and it was just too much pressure for him for me to also move there.

We unofficially broke up, but we ended up breaking up because I found out that he went on Raya and he told me he went on Raya because He needed to get over me in this relationship when I found out then he's begging again for me But I officially have gone no contact. It's been three weeks. No contact. It's been very very hard But my best friend recently let me know, he texted her saying that he's gonna go to an event and asking if it would be weird if he's going to the event because I will be there.

So my advice is how the hell do I maintain my composure, but also just not give a fuck and move on with my life and become more of a badass and thrive without him. If you want to look up my Instagram, my name is... I'll just stop, but I like how she put her Instagram in there anyways. Well, I was gonna say, Kiki, even if you didn't put your Instagram

for the sports fans out there, people are researchers on the internet. They probably did doctor, okay, this person went for this team, then got traded, they're gonna find you in two seconds anyway, is what I'm saying. There's people, our researchers on the internet, they probably deduct, okay, this person went for this team, then got traded, they're gonna find you in two seconds anyway, is what I'm saying. Lauren, I'll let you take the question here. I think we have to start at the beginning.

And the beginning is, I think when you're in a relationship, it's really easy to start molding yourself into the other person and being a chameleon. And I notice a lot of, especially women doing this, they'll chameleon to the guy's life or the girl's life. And they'll make themselves available to the person when the person wants them to be available and they'll move where the person wants them to move

and they'll sort of like change their entire life to accommodate another person. And if I were to give my daughter advice on this, I would say that she needs to go out and be confident in herself without anyone before accommodating someone else. Listen, I know relationships are compromised but like if I'm just starting to date a guy and he wants me to move and he wants me to do this and he wants me to do that and he wants me to not work on myself, it just feels like it's like placating to him. And this guy sounds like it's sort of like his life on his terms. And I feel if I'm just giving you honest advice

that he's not the one. And I think it's great that you're on this new found journey of saying, you know, I'm not gonna give a fuck. I'm gonna go do my own thing. That's what I would tell you to do. Go get your confidence up. Go do things that make you feel good about yourself. Go work on your job or your fitness or your personality.

And people will flock to you. They'll feel that confidence. I'm gonna just let you take that part of it. But what I would say is I think a common misconception with Lauren and I is that we've been together so long that people think, you know, because they hear that story that we've known each other since we were 12, that we've been together that whole time. There's no way we would have lasted if we were. I went off and had different experiences until I was done with college. She went off and had different experiences.

I think like, you know, even though we got back together and were monogamous at a young age, we had both kind of felt like we had lived a lot in those years where we were apart and experienced enough in those years we were apart. And at that point we were both ready to be in a relationship. It sounds like you guys have known each other for a very long time and are now entering a really serious relationship while you're getting into serious careers. And I think it's like it's worth it to have a conversation to say like are there parts of life that you both need to go experience before you settle down, especially for young men?

Um, I talked to a lot of my, my guy friends that are younger about this. Like if they're not done running around and having a good time, like it's, it, I think it's worth it to be honest about that. Um, so it's not just like, I don't know the guy and I don't know you and it, you know, who knows, it could be a really good situation and it could work out later, but I think you have to be realistic about people being able to go through different phases of life and let them experience those phases

and make sure that they're actually ready to be in a committed relationship where both people are going to have to make compromise. I also think it's settling if someone's going on Raya two seconds after you broke up. Like, what the fuck is that? If I was dating you and you went on Raya right after we broke up I'd be like bye I'm not good I'm not gonna convince someone to be with me I'm not going to convince someone to get off Raya

I really don't care what the excuse is if you're gonna go on Raya well okay but what is this what is the person supposed to wait around and like be like it sounds like he just jumped right in well Michael you can't even keep a straight face let me tell you guys what's the grace period Michael cannot keep a straight face he knows exactly what happened the guy probably got on Raya right away and to be honest with you if he was going to an event that I was going to I wouldn't go you know damn I would starve him of my presence there would be no presence I would starve you there I be so absent. You wouldn't even know what to do

You know plenty of your presence. We know plenty of women plenty of girls that Are on these apps and in different relationships and on different dates like right after the guy this is guys and this is I'm not saying guys girls. Whatever All I'm saying is that if you're going to get on Raya right after I break up with you, you're not gonna see me. You're not gonna get access to my personality. You're not gonna get access to my wittiness.

You're not gonna get access to my body. What if he waited like two weeks? Is that appropriate? No, gross. Get a life, you can't wait two weeks. No, that's- Okay, but what's he supposed to do? Sit around? For me, I'm not doing that. Like, gross. Get a life, you can't wait two weeks. No, that's- Okay, but what's he supposed to do, sit around? For me, I'm not doing that. Like, no, that's, and then you're texting my best friend,

like that's immature. Okay, but let's be honest. I don't think this is, I think this is where a lot of women aren't being realistic. Most guys I know, as soon as they're on a breakup, they're doing as much as they can to try to get into the next thing. Same with girls, because nobody wants to sit in the misery

of being alone by themselves. I'm not doing that. I don't like that. I don't know. Carson, if something happens, get my Raya account going. Here's my thing. If you, like, if you, if you really, if he really wants you, he would put Raya away and pursue you. You know what Lauren and I do? People, if, if a guy wants to pick up the phone and call you, he will. If a guy wants to pursue you, he will. And I think that this guy, instead of pursuing you, pick up the phone and call you, he will. If a guy wants to pursue you, he will. And I think that this guy, instead of pursuing you, picked up the phone and downloaded Raya. I don't know.

That's my opinion. Okay. Well, I'm just saying like maybe they're not ready for a committed relationship yet. And that's no bash on him or her, but I think that conversation exists. Kiki, go out and Kiki it up. Yeah. Kiki, maybe you should share Instagram, see who else is out there, see who slides in the DMs. That's what I would up. Yeah, Kiki maybe you should share Instagram, see who else is out there, see who slides in the DMs.

That's what I would do. Yeah, maybe. You know what Lauren and I do, person? We fantasize about if we were to split up, we carve out pieces of the world in cities. We're like, okay, we don't want to end up in the same city. If you're like, which city do you, like, you know we do this. Yeah, but I would, you can have-

I claim all the places that I've taken and shown you. You can have Antarctica. Okay. Honestly, that'd be kind of nice. But we carve out, we're like, okay, we don't want to have any like crossover. We don't like end up running into a place. No, you wouldn't get to see me. If we broke up, you would never see me again. What I got?

Think about it. I got New York, Paris, south of France. Ever. I got Lake Como. No, you don't got all those. I got Miami. I get Texas. You can have LA.

I'll be in Switzerland. You can have Switzerland fine Okay, fine. That's it. That's a call. I don't you know, that's a tough one people are like Oh, look at these bougie places you're talking about but we talk about this, you know, there's things you can have New Orleans you can have What else you want? You can have a Colorado you can have Colorado. I'll be on the moon Actually, you know what? I won't call you. You can have you talk I get think about life without me how boring that would be for you. You can have Utah. You can have Utah. I get, um.

Think about life without me, how boring that would be for you. Oof. But that's why we have to carve up. What's the next question? Next question. You'll be in hell. Hi, Michael and Lauren. This is so cool.

I just saw it on the TSC story and I wanted to call it to see what it was all about. So my name is Selena and my handle is Selena Lavasato. L-O-V-I-S-O-T-T-O, and my first name is spelled C-E-L-I-N-A. And my question for you both is about building a brand for yourself versus your company. So I'd love to know how you differentiate that. Lauren, like obviously for yourself versus the Skinny Confidential, did the brand come first or did you come first or was it more so simultaneously as I start to think about launching my next business?

Thank you so much. This was so cool. And I hope my question gets featured. Okay, thanks, bye. Pretty simple. I launched the Skinny Confidential as a brand to be bigger than Lauren Bostic. So the Skinny Confidential is a resource. It's always been a resource. I launched it knowing I wanted to launch a product line and 13 years later here we are with the product line and the podcast and the book and I hope that it's bigger than me. And as I build out the product line, everything that I do is to make it bigger

than me. I want to get to a point where someone sees me out at night and maybe I see like, I don't know, a mint roller in their purse and I can go up to them and be like, oh, like, you know, you love the mint roller and they can like have a conversation with me and not even know who I am. I wanna make the brand bigger than me. So that's important to always, in my opinion, build the brand bigger than your personal brand. Personal branding though is just as important in my opinion.

And I think in the next 10 years, you're going to see everyone has a personal brand. That's their name. And so I think what I like to do is I like to put it in different buckets and put a different hat on. So we have our show, which is a brand, we have the product line, which is a brand, and I have my own brand.

And I'm very methodical and thoughtful about how each one of those not only plays separately, but how they play together. So I think it's a lot of strategy and I think it's a lot of strategy and I think it's a lot of like trial and error, but I do think that the two should remain separate because if you ever want to sell your brand, you don't want to be so attached to it where you can't sell it because it's so reliant on you. And someone who's doing a really good example of that,

I think right now, and you can tell she's building the brand to be bigger than her, is Kim Kardashian with Skims. You feel Skims is a lot of different players. She brings a lot of different influencers and celebrities into her brand, and it makes it feel bigger than just Kim. I think about all this in relation to limiting factors, and this may sound strange. I think we live in a time now where you have to do both simultaneously.

I will speak about Dear Media in general. The reason it's called Dear Media and not the Bosticks Network or the Skinny Confidential Network or the Lorne and Michael Network is because when we were thinking about that brand, we wanted something that could encompass the reach that we wanted to have. And we wanted to encompass something that was welcoming to other shows and other creators and other platforms.

I actually personally get excited sometimes when I sit down with people and they have no understanding that I'm involved, that I'm the CEO, that we conceptualize it, or that Lauren and I and the success of this show kind of was the catalyst to launch the company. But if you think about other creators that have tried to create similar businesses and they've made it all about them, it becomes limiting because they have to be such an integral part of that business. And a lot of times other people either don't want to put themselves under them or they don't want to, you know, they feel it's all about the other creator. Kim Kardashian is a great example with Skims, but if you think about it, Kim's personal brand reinforced the

authenticity and the scale of Skim. So they work hand in hand. I think you need to build both simultaneously. Like I said earlier, and so if your personal brand can reinforce the overall brand that reaches greater people, that's what you need to work towards. So there's no like, Hey, build one or the other. You kind of need to build both. I like to think with Dear Media that a lot of my personality and perspective and kind of creative direction has been interjected into the, or injected into the company. And that's given it some of the scale and credibility as a company, but now the company can go and live far beyond me or Lauren as an individual.

And so I guess long and short way of answering that is that you need to build both and you need to ask yourself what's a limiting factor and what's not. So if you're building a personal brand, at some point, that entire brand is going to be reliant on you as a person, which means you can't ever detach yourself or escape and you always have to be performing as an individual. But if you're going to build a company and your personal brand is the entire company, that's also going to limit the company's growth. So you have to think about it in both perspectives. Where people get in trouble with this is they launch a product or a brand and they want to be the star of it. And so what they do is they actually end up cutting whatever is around them to

be the same height as them without letting others grow. That's what I'm saying. So what I mean by that is like, it's like, if you, I don't know, if you, if you launch a product, but you only want to feature like, no, it would be, it would be would be like with Dear Media if the success of every other show was based on my personal success and brand. And then you also maybe even put in your own agenda. So let's just say like you were like, I'm only going to sign people that believe X, Y, and Z. I think you've done a good job of diversifying the difference of opinions and content and making sure that your, that the talent on the network can grow as tall as they want to grow. Like they can

grow out the window. Yeah. So we're saying the same thing, but I guess what I'm saying is you just have to think about it from a limiting factor perspective. So Kim Kardashian, we'll just pick on Kim Kardashian because she's easy and it's a good showcase and she's obviously well known. The success that Skims has is tremendous success. It's arguable that it wouldn't have nearly the amount of success without Kim, but it's also now arguable that Skims wouldn't go on to be such a big brand if it was solely reliant on just Kim Kardashian.

Right. It's able to go beyond her. And then what she's done that I think she's done so well is she's brought people who are even bigger than her on. So she's brought Nike on, she's brought the Olympic team on, she's brought Cindy Crawford on, she's brought Megan Fox on, she's not afraid to bring on these conglomerates that are like, or these like huge models or actors or influencers who are bigger than her to help lift the brand. Yep. Or if you go another direction, like Gary Vaynerchuk, who's a friend of ours, Gary V, he built a really strong personal brand. But then a lot of people don't realize this

with VaynerMedia, he's built a much bigger brand and company that's able to go into all sorts of different things, whether it's, you know, web three technologies or his agency or his books or whatever. And it's been built off the success of his personal brand. But now in addition to that, he has built another brand that is far greater than him individually. So I think, again, you have to do both and think about both. And I would ask yourself constantly, um, is the brand or me individually limiting either?

And if the answer is yes, then you need to reassess how you're branding each. There are so many vitamins and supplements that Lauren and I talk about on this show regularly and you can extract such a benefit from so many of the good quality ones. All that being said, it is so hard to find a company that you can trust that does third-party testing that has label accuracy, that doesn't have any banned substances. This is why Lauren and I love Momentus so much. Momentus is driven by the relentless pursuit of helping you achieve performance for life.

And Momentus ensures every product in their range adheres to the Momentus is driven by the relentless pursuit of helping you achieve performance for life and Momentus ensures every product in their range adheres to the Momentus standard which is rigorous testing backed by science and highest quality ingredients. Every product is NSF certified for sport or informed sport meaning that every batch is third-party tested for purity, label accuracy and banned substances. This rigorous level of testing sets Momentus apart and trust and transparency. You always know what's on their label is exactly what's in their product. This is so important because so much of the time when it comes to supplements, which is a very unregulated space, you can't really entrust all the ingredients,

all the labels, and you constantly have to worry if you're getting the right dosage. With Momentus, you don't have to worry about any of that. Momentus sells to 200 pro sports and collegiate teams and is trusted by all 32 NFL teams and collegiate sports. I think they make the best Omega product on the market. Their creatine is phenomenal. They have these little individualized sleep packets that I take on the go at home. What I love about their products is you know the dosage is on point. So if you're working with a doctor or doing blood work, you can get exactly what you need from Momentus supplements. So if you're ready to switch it up to a company who is

doing it differently and putting you first head to livemomentous.com and use code skinny for 35% off your first subscription. That's code skinny at livemomentous.com for 35% off your first subscription. I love my bowl of meat. And one thing I like to do to my bowl of meat is I like to make it different all the time. I have so many ideas there.

It's just like so many. Like I could give you a scroll of ideas. And one of the ideas is that I've been doing a hamburger bowl. It is so delicious. You chop up a bunch of red onion. You do some tomato. You do some cheese. Maybe some cheddar cheese.

You do some jalapeno. you could do some white onion, lettuce and some meat. And the lettuce that I have been using is so efficient, it is by Taylor Farms. So they have so many different chopped salad kits. It's really easy to use these in your bowl of meat or just to make a salad with. So they have like a sweet kale, a Caesar, an avocado ranch, a Mediterranean crunch.

I used the avocado ranch recently for my meat bowl, like my hamburger bowl, and it was absolutely delicious. Everything is all ready to go. So there's no chopping, slicing, or leaving like half a cabbage in your fridge. It's efficient. It saves you time. It's fresh greens. It's efficient, it saves you time, it's fresh greens, it's ready. Like I said, you could do a salad, a bowl of meat, you could do like a fiesta

bowl. You can get really creative with Taylor Farms Chopped Salad Kits. I just happen to like it in my bowl of meat. So if you're looking for something that your whole family will love, look no further than Taylor Farms. Grab a Taylor Farms chopped salad kit and get your salad together. And don't sleep on the sweet kale. It is delicious with a little champagne vinaigrette. Are you looking for glowing, radiant skin? Well, let me tell you about a medical-grade LED light. It is the iRestore Illumina Face Mask. This is a dermatologist recommended mask that packs double the power of most other masks. So they use a combination of red, infrared, and blue light that targets everything from

wrinkles to acne to sun damage to inflammation. I am a huge light person, okay? I love it. I love to use it in my office. I love to use it on conference calls. I love to use it while I meditate. I just think it makes so much sense when you do a deep dive on all the benefits of red, infrared, and blue light. If you are looking for something that is not complicated

and you want results, you have to check out the iRestore Illumina Face Mask. They're so confident in their products too that they give a 12-month money back guarantee. So you can try it and if your skin doesn't look healthier and more plump, you'll get a full refund. It's all my skincare concerns. So it's anti-aging, it's increased collagen production, hyperpigmentation, it's even improved blood

flow to the skin. Give your skin the love it deserves this spring. For a limited time only, our listeners are getting a huge discount on the iRestore Illumina Face Mask when you use code skinny at irestore.com. Head over to irestore.com and use code skinny for our show's exclusive discounts on the iRestore Illumina face mask. Please support the show and tell them that we sent you. Unlock your best skin with iRestore. Do you know what I am wearing on my skin right now? I am wearing the caffeinated sunscreen by the Skinny Confidential.

I created this sunscreen so it tightens the face with the caffeine and gives you a little tint, a natural tint. And I'm so excited because we are doing an anniversary sale. The sale is April 22nd to the 25th and the sunscreen is obviously on sale. So the discount that we're doing is 30% off, which we barely ever do. And what's exciting about this is not only

can you grab the sunscreen that I'm wearing that is absolutely amazing under makeup, it doesn't pile or anything, it just lays so nice and gives you like a tight glow. I apply mine with a beauty blender, but you can also get our tools. You can get the dry brush, you can get the body sculptor. That's my secret weapon for pregnancy cellulite.

So here's the exciting thing, when you order a tool, you get a free, this is like, we've never done this, a free full-size de-puffing oil. And this is the oil that I use for my fascia facial massage that you see me do on Instagram. So if I were to like tell you what to get, I would say definitely get the sunscreen, because like I said,

it's gonna give you a really pretty glow under makeup. I wear it all the time though without makeup. And then if you're going to grab a tool, I would get the mint roller or the ice roller if you haven't tried it. And by far the body tool to grab is the dry brush that I have been using my entire pregnancy. You will notice a difference right away. It's one of those tools that you use and you immediately feel refreshed. So how I use the dry brush, if you want to know for the anniversary sale, 30% off you gotta grab it, is what I do is I do the dry brush on my entire body. I'll do it for three minutes and then I get in a freezing cold shower. And when I get out of the shower, I'll put body oil all over me,

like a good Osea or a Pelicure body oil, even Agent Noture, and then I'll put body oil all over me, like a good Osea or a Pelicure body oil, even Agent Noture, and then I'll use the Body Sculptor to get in there to break up cellulite and just get my lymphatic system really activated. This is like my ride or die way that I shower in the morning because I have kids and I got to be quick and I want to feel refreshed and rejuvenated. So go shop the anniversary sale, get everything you can, get birthday presents.

This is the time, 30% off automatic, you don't need a code, it's site-wide. And like I said, when you buy any tool, you get a free full-sized de-puffing oil. Go to shopskinnyconfidential.com for 30% off, April 22nd through the 25th. Let's do two more questions. shop skinnyconfidential.com for 30% off April 22nd through the 25th. Let's do two more questions.

Hi, my name is Courtney Croucher at Courtney Croucher on Instagram. I'm located in Toronto, Canada. I've been following you for 13 years. And I just want to know the nitty gritty of when you and when Lauren and Michael were both building together in those early stages, the hustle, the grind. What did that look like? And how did you manage your social and health life? I know it's evolved over the years, so I'd love to know the nitty gritty. And if you have any tips of people in their twenties that are in that grind mode today. Love you all so much.

Thank you. It's a good question. That's a good question. It is a good question. And what's so interesting is that Gen Z, I can tell, has a really good work-life balance. And that's amazing. I did not have a work-life balance when I was in my twenties. And I'm not saying that that makes me better. I could have used more balance, but I do think that your 20s is a great time

to work your fucking face off. And the nitty gritty for me was I would wake up in the morning, I would teach pure bar. I would go to college. I was going to college full-time at San Diego State. I would get home, I would blog at three o'clock to four o'clock, write my blog. From four to four thirty, I would shoot photos, I would upload the photos, and then I would go straight into my bartending job. I would post on social

media in the bathroom. And then from probably like five thirty to midnight, sometimes one in the morning, I would be bart bartending and then I would get home and I would probably work on my blog until 2 in the morning and I would do that at least five nights a week and the other two days were spent taking photos researching and Laying out how I wanted the blog to look I was blogging seven days a week at that time And that's just the very, like that was the very, very beginning as the blog began to grow and I started to monetize it, which didn't happen for like three years and I blogged every single day. I still was working my face off until

my thirties and then I got to my thirties and I realized to get to the next level, like I needed to harness the power of no and boundaries. So I sort of changed my strategy. But what I would tell any 20-year-old right now, and again, I know this is not the answer that people maybe want to hear. It's like, that's the time to really lay the foundation and lay the work and lay the bricks of what you want to do. If you're, I noticed like some people are like, well, I only want to work a couple hours a day. If that's totally fine,

if you only want to work a couple hours a day, but don't expect an extraordinary life. And this is just honest. Do not expect an extraordinary life if you want to work a few hours a day. And I don't just mean with money. It's not just about money. But to me, money equals options and money equals freedom. And so that's what I was doing in my 20s was I was creating options and freedom.

SIDney It's Lauren and I talk about this all the time. We wish, and there is some documentation of this. I'm sure you can go find old blogs on our channel or even on Lauren's socials. Lauren But not really. It wasn't like that. SIDney But I just want to paint a picture of what it looked like in relation to the beginning of this show. Like go 10 years ago. And you can for sure go and look at that early episode. And to give context, what he's talking about is after the blog was up for three years.

Yes. But okay. So first, work-life balance is a myth. We still don't have work life balance. You're always sacrificing something. I'm not getting invited to the guys' parties. I'm not out at the bars and clubs anymore. My friends don't invite me on the guys' trips.

I don't have time. You don't get invited anywhere. No, I don't have to, I mean, listen, either I'm working or I'm with my family and kids. So I'm, I, my social life is non-existent right now. I think the first thing people need to understand is that anything in life worth pursuing requires a sacrifice. If you want to build a family, you likely can't be out running around with your friends all the time. If you want to build a business, you probably can't be out hungover all the time. If you want to stay with

your kids all the time and be at home, you're likely going to struggle to build a really meaningful business. Not to say you can't build a business, but if you're taking that kind of time, you're competing with the world. So I want to disillusion everyone to the idea that there should be balance, that there's sacrifices and world. So I want to disillusion everyone to the idea that there should be balance, that there's sacrifices and everything. We made a shitload of those sacrifices in our early twenties, me particular as a man, I focused on one woman. I didn't chase anything else.

I wasn't with any other guys. I would work basically my face off every single day. When I started the show and when we started Dear Media, I was running two other companies and then twice a week, Lauren and I would get in our car around eight or nine at night and drive to LA. We would do the show. I would drive back. We'd do that twice a week. We were not paid anything for two years. We edited, sold, produced, host, and booked every single guest for close to 300 episodes. Then when I started Dear Media, I basically got zero, um, hours of sleep

a night, I was stressed all the time. I, my hair was turning gray and we self-funded the whole thing. Long way of saying that in your twenties, you can do all that stuff because you have energy. I don't think I could do it now, but now I'm fortunate where we've had some success and we have a great company of people that can take on a lot of the physical exertion that we had to take on in the beginning. But it's earned and I think that's, that's what it was not handed. And by the way, like that's what you have to look at your 20s as is like

earning it. But I want to just like share like I now we're sitting in Austin, Texas in this beautiful office in this beautiful studio with this great company. But there was a time when we came out to Austin, Texas, we jumped on a Southwest flight. I had a carry-on piece of equipment of luggage with a Zoom recorder. I remember it like yesterday, we went to Ryan Holiday's house, who at the time we were so excited about that we're not, we still are super excited to talk to you, Ryan. But carried all that equipment, set it up ourselves, did it, got back on the flight, edited it. So the point is, is that we put in a shitload of work in our twenties, but guess what?

It was super fun because we didn't have the responsibility of parents. We were working for ourselves. We didn't have the responsibility of parents, we were working for ourselves, we didn't have a ton of employees, we didn't have to worry about their livelihood because it was just Lauren and I, so we were able to bet on ourselves. We were malleable. We lived humbly in condos and always below our means

and didn't overspend. Lot of saving. Lot of savings. And I think it's a good time to do that, but I don't wanna disillusion anyone. If someone saw our schedule right now and I'm not pushing this on everyone, we still hustle and work as much as we can. And the key to that is if you're going to do anything worthwhile and you want it to be meaningful and you want it to stand out and you want it to be impactful, it's going to require

hard work and sacrifice. And the thing with Michael and I, we'll reach the top of a mountain and then there'll be like 20 other mountains that we want to go up. And I think it's just a lot, like Michael said, of sacrifice. You know, you're not always out every Friday night. I am constantly in every single one of my businesses like a hawk. It's why we both personally likely don't, and I'm sure people in the company feel this way sometimes, don't have a lot of sympathy when people come to say, oh, I'm working so hard and I don't have balance. It's like, we never had any of that.

And of course we built and own our own companies and that was the goal. So like maybe there's disproportionate, um, you know, earnings at the end of that. But the point is, is like, if you want to have anything in life, whether it's a relationship, you have to put the time in. If it's a family, if it's a business, you have to put the time in. And you're always going to be out of balance and you're always going to be uncomfortable. And that's just the reality of it. And so I think when we started this show in the early days, we made no income from this show

for years and had to put in our own earnings from other companies or other jobs. You know, as Lauren was putting herself through college or teaching a pure bar or bartending or starting her blog and making a little income, we would put the money we would make in other businesses or other jobs into this and making no money in this. And then eventually this paid off. But I don't know, there's sacrifices that need to be making. I don't want to lie to anyone and say it's been easier that it's still easy. Like it's, it's, it's constantly a grind and hustle.

Next question. One more. Hi, my name is Amy. I am just wondering any advice on how you would forgive somebody for finding out that they kissed somebody in a bar seven years ago and how to get past that, how to trust somebody that did that, and also I found out by reading his journal, which was on a public one drive. So I accidentally came across it, but I did read it and how to move on how to trust how to forgive. I'm still really hurt. He's really hurt that I read his journal. I'm sure he is. I'm really struggling. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Before you say first of all, I actually want to know what you yourself, don't lie to the audience, would do if I had in my journal that I kissed someone seven years ago in a bar. I actually want to know what you do. At this point I don't care. I just seven years ago. You don't care? No, I gotta move on. Oh, I gotta show you my salacious journal. Yeah, I mean listen It's been seven years. You wouldn't care. That's a lie. I swear to God. It's the seven. It's the seven You found someone seven two kids another one on the way Like are we gonna like say like someone had a slip up seven years ago? You would I would be like where the hell were we seven years ago? Were you drunk?

I don't know. That's just so funny that you're not being honest. You know what? I'm going to do the calculus. Yeah, let's tear down all the companies, the marriage, and our children's life for a kiss seven years ago. But you would be like, what the fuck? I would probably be like, what the fuck?

But then I'd like, I mean, what would you do? First of all, I do want to say going through someone's journal is also not being trusting so let's all let's just say that sure he was not you're right it's her fault no I'm not saying it's her fault I'm just saying like it's it's sort of tit-for-tat yeah going through his journal which I'm gonna be honest if this guy was my friend I'd be like why the fuck are you writing this in the journal Lord bullshit you go hold on are you writing this in the journal? Hold on are you gonna sit here and say you don't go through my journal or my phone or my emails

No, I do like little things. Well, I'm honest about it. What do you mean? I will like go on your phone and whisper Chihuahua into your phone. So you only get served Chihuahua's like I Mean I'm not like going through your phone. No. Here's what I would say. Have the last seven years been really good or have they been really bad? If they're really bad, I would not forgive them when I move on.

If they've been really good and it's like, oh, kissing a bar seven years ago and there's no other pattern. What if it was a finger bang? Well, finger banging a bar seven years ago, we're going to up the ante a little bit. First of all, what are you doing getting finger banged in the bar?

That's a little- Okay, what if I got finger banged in the bar? I'd be like, what are you doing? No, he doesn't bar? That's a little bit. What if I got finger banged in the bar? I'd be like, what are you doing? No, he doesn't like it. No, no, no. Just pull his face. I'm more like, I would more be like, that's kind of like gross that you're doing that in the bar. Okay.

I'm just wondering, I'm just like wondering how far I can go. What if I'm in there, butt fucking someone in the bar? What are you talking about? Like, come on, like, you know, um, I don't know. I think that the seven year kiss, I think you really like, okay, here's what I would say. If it was Lauren and I, and there are all of these things over the last seven years and things have been great and we've all these kids and these businesses and we've built

a life, I'd have to probably be like, listen, are we going to get hung up on here? Was it a one-time thing? Is this still going on? Do you want to know what I would do? I'd probably move past it. Amy, I would squeeze it like a lemon and use it as leverage every second for the next year. Am I being insensitive here? Is Amy going to be upset? I just feel like seven years is a long time. Amy, I would use it in my back pocket, in my Swiss army knife as a tool to use if you

need to use it. Like if he hacks up, I'd be like, remember when you kissed someone in a bar seven years ago and didn't tell me about it for seven years? Wait, hold on, but were you guys just dating? Were you engaged? Were you married? Like, okay, if you, if we were married, and then I found out you were doing something while we were married, I'd be like,

well, that's pretty egress, but it feels like we just first started dating. We were married seven years ago. I know. So what would you do? Well, I'd be like, well, that's kind of, what were you- He doesn't like it. But I'd also, I don't know. I don't like it, but I'm not gonna blow my whole life up

I wouldn't blow my whole life up But I Michael made a really good point if you have other things on Your list of things that are not working and really not working. I would look into it I need a little more information on these because if the guys like if she called said, hey I'm with a guy and he's an incredible father and he you know He's a provider and he treats me really good every story But the only thing he did is he kissed a girl my side my side in my seven years ago before he married I'm gonna but if you're like hey, he kissed a girl seven years and he's also been a piece of shit

He's doing this shady stuff I'd be like well, I do want to say something too and I'm gonna look at Carson and Michael space when I say this Usually when guys say they kissed someone They actually finger bang them Well, I yes. Yes. I will say Carson. I don't write down my Adventures in a journal like that. I'm not like oh, you know Kiss Susie at the bar I know what this guy's doing. I'm just saying if a guy says he kissed someone, sometimes that

could mean he penetrated. I'm just saying, I know guys. But hold on. If you're writing in a journal, hold on. If you're, if I'm writing in a journal and it's me and like, someone's going to find the journal later and I penetrated someone, I'm not going to be like, I had a kid, I'd be like, listen, I got it on. I was like, I was in there. I'm just saying I. You I had a kiss. I'd be like, listen, I got it on. I was like, I was in there.

I'm just saying I... You would write that down. I'm just saying... That seems memorable. I used to be a bartender with all guys and I was one for four years where I got to talk to men all day. And I got to really hear them in their natural habitat. And I'm around your friends all the time. A lot of guys. A lot of masculine energy. And if they say they kissed, it's usually more. Oh, and girls aren't the same.

I would start an investigation, Amy. I mean, this is also a journal though, so he's definitely being completely honest with himself. Yeah, but sometimes he might, maybe he's not. Why would you lie to your journal, Lauren? Kiss might be code for bang. I don't think in a journal. You know what, Amy? Fuck it. Light it on fire.

Was your boyfriend named Taylor O'Connor? Yeah. Yeah. Is that Taylor? No, you know what? I think we need more information, but I would say if he's relatively, it's been a good relationship. Might be time to move on and just let him forgive. If you can't, then it's got to break up.

But what I would say is you don't want to be in a situation where we can't move on from this and it's something coming up over and over and our relationship's toxic. Why? That's fun. All. All right guys this was fun. You guys if you want to be a part of the next episode call the hotline at 512-537-7194 and you can leave us a voicemail with your first name location and your burning questions. Tell us your wildest story. Michael loves context. A hot take. We want to hear it all and we're gonna do so many more of these episodes.